HE

CLASS-INCLUSIONAL SENTENCES

Learning The He Class Inclusional Sentence Structure - Pepeke ʻAike He

This is one of the most fundamental sentence structures in the Hawaiian language. The structure, in Hawaiian grammar, is called "Pepeke ʻAike He". It is used both to say that something has a particular characteristic or that someone possesses something. It's often referred to as the "Have A / Has A" sentence type and sometimes may be called a "He Equational" sentence (although "equational" is not really an accurate description).

Form And Usage Of The He Class Inclusional Sentence

When expressing Class Inclusion the form of the sentence is:

HE + QUALITY + NOUN-THAT-HAS-THE-QUALITY

Using the Hawaiian terms for the parts of speech this is stated as:

HE + ʻAʻANO/KIKINO + KIKINO

Class Inclusion Examples include:

• He lā maikaʻi kēia lā - Today is a good day (lā=day, maikaʻi=good, kēia=this)
• He holoholonā pōloli ka pōpoki - The cat is a hungry animal (holoholoā=animal, pōloli=hungry, ka pōpoki=cat)
• He haumana ʻoluʻolu kaʻu keiki - My child is a pleasant student (haumana=student, ʻoluʻolu=pleasant, kaʻu=my, keiki=child)
• He kumu ʻo Iokepa - Iokepa is a teacher (kumu=teacher, ʻo=name marker, Iokepa=my name)

Notice in the examples above that the He structure implies "a", and not "the". In other words, It is a good day. One of many good days. It's not the good day, the one-and-only good day. It's a hungry cat that we're talking about. We're not pointing at the one skinny cat in a group and saying "It's the hungry cat" - the cat is in the category of cats that are called hungry cats; the cat isn't the one-and-only hungry cat. Consider the sentence "Iokepa is a teacher". Imagine we're at a school event and someone is going to teach the group how to make lei. There are parents, teachers, and children in the room. You point to Iokepa, who is sitting next to you, and say, "Iokepa is a teacher". You point to the person giving the presentation and say, "She is the teacher" (and saying that something is "the" something else is a different sentence structure, the O-Equational Structure!)

The basic He structure can include more descriptive elements as well, for example:

• He mau kānaka waiwai koʻu mau makua - "My parents are wealthy people"
• He lā leʻaleʻa ka lā aku nei - Yesterday was a fun day
• He kaʻu mea ʻai punahele kekahi manako - "A mango is a favorite food of mine"

The Possessive Form Of The He Sentence

The structure of the Possessive He (Have A / Has A) sentence is identical to the Class Inclusional form but, in this case, the second part of the sentence contains either a possessive pronoun or a possessive marker (Refer to Personal and Possessive Pronouns page for more information)

When constructing a He-Possessive sentence the form is is:

HE + THING POSSESSED + POSSESSIVE PRONOUN <OR> POSSESSIVE MARKER KĀ/KO + POSSESSOR

Using the Hawaiian terms for the parts of speech this is stated as:

HE + KIKINO + POSSESSIVE PAPANI <OR> KĀ/KO + POSSESSOR + POSSESSOR

Possessive, Have A / Has A examples include:

• He ʻīlio kaʻu - I have a dog (ʻīlio=dog, kaʻu=possessed by me, my)
• He pōpoki kōna - She has a cat (pōpoki=cat, kōno-his/her possessive pronoun)
• He kiʻekiʻe puʻu ko Maui - Maui has a tall mountain (kiʻekiʻe=tall, puʻu=mountain, ko=the possessive marker for Maui)
• He mau māmā kōna hoa - Her friend has snacks (mau=pluralizer, māmā=snack, kōna=possessed by her, hers, hoa=friend)

Here the idea of being a category is not what's being implied. Rather, the He structure is expressing that something is possessed by someone (or something). The thing that's possessed follows He and the possessor is at the end.

Possession Of A Quantity

When a quantity (a number) is possessed the structure always uses the k-less possessive form. There are several ways a sentence with a possessed quantity may be expressed but the k-less possessive quantity is consistent in all of them. Here are some examples:

• He ʻelima aʻu mau moʻopuna - I have five grandchildren (this sentence includes "He" and "mau")
• ʻElua au pōpoki - You have two cats (this sentence drops the "He" and "mau")
• ʻUmi ana mau pua - She has ten flowers (this sentence drops the "He" but keeps the "mau")
• ʻAʻohe ou keiki - You have no children (You don't see ʻaʻohe preceded by "He" and "mau" wouldn't make sense for "none")

Negative He Sentences

The Class Inclusional and Possessive He sentences can express the negative; something is NOT something else or someone does NOT have something. If it's a quality that is not present (in the Class Inclusional form) then the absence of the quality is expressed by ʻaʻole, "no", "not". If it's a quantity (i.e. the quantity zero) being expressed in the Have A / Has A form then the quantity, zero, is ʻaʻohe, "zero", "none".

The structure of the He sentence changes when a negative is being expressed. The thing that used to be in a particular category/class moves up front, ahead of the "he" and it's preceded by ʻaʻole or ʻaʻohe. The form is:

ʻAʻOLE + KAʻI + KIKINO + HE + QUALITY

Consider these examples:

• He lā maikaʻi kēia lā - Today is a good day (lā=day, maikaʻi=good, kēia=this)

ʻAʻole kēia lā he lā maikaʻi - Today is not a good day

• He holoholona pōloli ka pōpoki - The cat is a hungry animal (holoholona=animal, pōloli=hungry, ka pōpoki=cat)

ʻAʻole ka pōpoki he holoholona pōloli - The cat is not a hungry animal

• He haumana ʻoluʻolu kaʻu keiki - My child is a pleasant student (haumana=student, ʻoluʻolu=pleasant, kaʻu=my, keiki=child)

ʻAʻole kaʻu keiki he haumana ʻoluʻolu - My child is not a pleasant student

• He kumu ʻo Iokepa - Iokepa is a teacher (kumu=teacher, ʻo=name marker, Iokepa=my name)

ʻAʻole ʻo Iokepa he kumu - Iokepa is not a teacher

• He mākaʻi ʻo ia - He is a policeman (mākaʻi=policeman, ʻo ia=he)

ʻAʻole ʻo ia he mākaʻi - He is not a policeman (ʻo ia moved up in front of "he mākaʻi, and the sentence was preceded by ʻaʻole)